Prima
Page 24
“You sealed your fate the moment you laid your hand on Clara in anger,” Alek said. “My verdict is death.”
That left Yuri who pushed off the door, walked to the table, and stood over Nikolai who had already leaned back as if that bit of extra space would somehow protect him.
“You robbed me of my father and tore my mother’s heart from her chest. For that alone you deserve to die.” Drawing back his arm, Yuri slammed his fist into Nikolai’s abdomen, doubling the man over. Yuri hit him again and then again, each blow causing Nikolai to moan in pain as he learned how it felt to be beaten. Finally, Yuri had to reach down and drag Nikolai up from the floor where he’d fallen then threw him back on the table. “My verdict is death.”
Grigori inclined his head as Yuri turned and gave him a nod before moving to stand at my other side. I’d seen him beat a man to within an inch of his life, and yet I’d never felt more protected in my life than I did standing between the two brothers.
“No! Wait! Please… you… you can’t…” Nikolai begged, his eyes swollen and yet on his uncle as he begged for his life.
“I have,” Grigori said and stepping forward, drew his gun, and pressed it between his nephew’s eyes. “For my son,” he said and pulled the trigger.
We learned the proper disposal of a body when Grigori lifted the lever on the iron door and I discovered it wasn’t a refrigerator as I’d thought, but an oven. Alek moved to help Yuri carry Nikolai’s body to the chamber, laying him on the tray, along with the ropes that had restrained me to the bed and a napkin from the hotel. Yuri added the items used to clean up the blood and brain matter killing a man caused. Grigori placed the cane on top of Nikolai’s body. I stepped forward, not because of any morbid curiosity, but because I needed to be a part of the actual deed. Once the men pushed the drawer in, I was the one who lowered the bar, and I was the one who moved to push the button to activate the gas, which, according to the dial, would reach 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit and burn Nikolai’s body and any incriminating evidence to nothing more than a pile of ash.
He was on his way to hell.
Perhaps death made life more precious…
Possibly it was the fact the line between good and evil had been breached and yet the only thing that had happened was justice had finally won…
Or maybe I was finally truly free…
Whatever it was, when Alek and I were finally alone once we’d dropped Yuri at his loft after watching Grigori’s plane lifting off, we made love that taught me the difference between sex and sharing one’s very soul.
Never had I been so exhausted and yet felt so euphoric.
Naked with my hair in tangles, my body glistening with sweat, I lay atop Alek who was just as deliciously dirty as I. I smiled and reached to caress his face with my fingertips.
“I love you,” I said.
“I love you,” Alek returned with a smile that had my insides quivering all over again. He wrapped an arm around me as he turned to reach toward his nightstand.
“God, you have the stamina of a racehorse,” I said, my exhaustion forgotten as I imagined his mouth, his lips, his tongue and his cock taking me over the edge of the cliff yet again.
He chuckled and, after a bit of fumbling, moved again to sit with his back against the headboard, me straddling his lap, to present me, not with a foil package but with a small box.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“Open it and see.”
I lifted the top off the box, moved the layer of tissue paper aside, and felt my heart constrict and tears well. “Oh, Alek,” I managed.
He reached to pick up the gift. It wasn’t a diamond ring or a pearl necklace. It wasn’t the key to some luxury apartment or fancy sports car. Yet it was the most priceless gift I’d ever received.
“Just as you belong here with me, this little girl belongs safe in the arms of her family,” he said as I looked down at the beautifully painted little wooden doll, an exact replica of the one I’d lost all those years ago.
I let the tears fall as I bent forward to cup his face in my hands before pressing my lips to his, knowing he was right. This was exactly where I belonged.
Where Nikolai was the dark of my past, Alek was the light of my future… a light I knew would never dim.
Epilogue
Alek
Three months later – New York
I smiled, watching as Olga rose to her feet without assistance, the medical trial she’d been accepted into allowing her hands, far less twisted, to clap as enthusiastically as the ones of those around her. Tears slid down a face wearing a smile as bright as the spotlight that bathed her beloved granddaughter in a circle of light.
Everyone in the theater was on their feet, the applause, loud as thunder, rolling in wave after wave toward the stage where Clara was bent toward the floor, one arm extended over her head, her wrist flexed, the other curled beneath her, her head practically brushing the stage. Not a single muscle so much as quivered She was perfection personified, frozen in place as the applause caused the entire theater to vibrate.
She’d done it.
She’d returned to where she belonged… no longer a principal dancer.
Clara had earned the honor very few had been given before her. She wasn’t just a prima ballerina… she was prima ballerina assoluta.
But as she lifted her head and found me in the wings, her smile told me all I needed to know…
She was my prima.
The End
About Alta Hensley
ALTA HENSLEY is a USA TODAY bestselling author of hot, dark and dirty romance. She is also an Amazon Top 100 bestselling author. Being a multi-published author in the romance genre, Alta is known for her dark, gritty alpha heroes, sometimes sweet love stories, hot eroticism, and engaging tales of the constant struggle between dominance and submission.
Join Alta’s Facebook Group for Readers for access to deleted scenes, to chat with me and other fans and also get access to exclusive giveaways:
Alta’s Private Facebook Room
Check out Alta Hensley:
Website: www.altahensley.com
Facebook: facebook.com/AltaHensleyAuthor
Twitter: twitter.com/AltaHensley
Instagram: instagram.com/altahensley
BookBub: bookbub.com/authors/alta-hensley
Sign up for Alta’s Newsletter: readerlinks.com/l/727720/nl
As a gift for being my reader, I would like to offer you a FREE book. DELICATE SCARS
Get your copy now! ~
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/tnpuad5675
I was going to ruin her.
I knew it the moment I laid eyes on her. She was too naive, too innocent.
I would wrap her in the darkness of my world till she no longer craved the light... only me.
I should walk away, leave her clean and untouched... but I won't.
I hold her delicate heart in my scarred fist and I have no intention of letting go.
It all started with a book... doesn't that sound crazy?
For your entire world to come crashing down around you over research for a book?
But that is what it felt like the moment I met him.
My world tilted. Nothing made sense any more.
I only know he became like a drug to me... and I shook with need till my next fix.
About Maggie Ryan
MAGGIE RYAN is a USA TODAY multi-published and Amazon Top 100 bestselling author. She loves flirting with the forbidden to bring you stories about strong, stern alpha males and sassy, capable women who discover that life without a bit of fire and a dash of spice isn’t worth living. Maggie hopes you will curl up in your favorite chair and take the journey with her. Happy Reading!
Connect with Maggie:
Website
Facebook
Amazon
BookBub
Newsletter Sign-Up
Maggie.ryan.writes@gmail.com
Twitter @authorMRyan
Instagram: Instagram.com/Maggie.r
yan.writes
Also by Alta Hensley
Top Shelf Series:
Bastards & Whiskey
Villains & Vodka
Scoundrels & Scotch
Devils & Rye
Beasts & Bourbon
Sinners & Gin
Spiked Roses
Evil Lies Series:
The Truth About Cinder
The Truth About Alice
Breaking Belles Series:
Elegant Sins
Beautiful Lies
Opulent Obsession
Dark Fantasy Series:
Snow & the Seven Huntsmen
Red & the Wolves
Queen & the Kingsmen
Kings & Sinners Series:
Maddox
Stryder
Anson
Prima
Mr. D
Mafia Lullaby
Captive Vow
Naughty Girl
Bad Bad Girl
Delicate Scars
Bride to Keep
His Caged Kitty
Bared
Caged
Forbidden
For all of my books, check out my Amazon Page!
http://amzn.to/2CTmeen
Also By Maggie Ryan
Don’t miss these exciting titles by Maggie Ryan
The Forbidden Saga Series:
Her Lord’s Birch
Her Lord’s Law
Her Lord’s Desire
Her Lord’s Claim
Her Lord’s Discipline
Her Lord’s Demand
Her Lord’s Rules
Her Lord’s Delight
Rosie’s Resolutions
Please Daddy
Big Bad Daddy Wolffe
A Little Atonement
Daddy Says
Daddy Commands
Leather and Grace
Treasured Submission
Coauthored with Alta Hensley:
Prima
Bride to Keep
Maddox
Stryder
Anson
The Black Light Series:
Suspended
Roulette Redux – Featuring Surrender
Celebrity Roulette – Featuring Savor
Coauthored with Shanna Handel:
The Wolf’s Demand
Her Alpha Mates
The Power of the Pack